1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in a first, second and third aspect to dispensers for dispensing cotton pads according to the introductory parts of claims 3, 1 and 6, respectively. In a fourth aspect (claim 8) the invention relates to a method for producing a dispenser according to claim 1.
2. Description of the Related Art
The cotton pads to which the present invention relates are of the disc-shaped, typically round type, which are often used to apply or remove make-up, e.g. in bathrooms or beauty parlors. Thus, depending on how the cotton pads are stored they risk being subjected to soil and moisture. Since cotton pads inherently have a very absorbing nature, specifically subjection to moisture often instantly will make the cotton pads unusable. It is therefore desirable to provide a dispenser that protects the cotton pads from moist and soil.
To this end applicant's WO 2008/003316, on which the introductory parts of claims 3, 1 and 6 are based, discloses a cotton pad dispenser within which a number of disc-shaped cotton pads are stacked. The cotton pads are enclosed within a circular-cylindrical side wall, which is closed at the top end and at the bottom of which an end wall is positioned to keep the cotton pads within the dispenser when placed in an upright position. At the bottom end of the dispenser the side wall extends beyond the end wall such as to form a supporting structure for supporting the dispenser in the upright position. The end wall comprises a central, circular withdrawal aperture. The end wall is raised a short distance above the surface onto which the dispenser is positioned, which prevents the bottommost cotton pad of the dispenser from coming into contact with especially moist, but also soil on the surface on which the dispenser is positioned. Even though such an arrangement of an aperture allows for withdrawal of cotton pads one by one, the dispenser must be lifted from the surface in order to withdraw a cotton pad, and preferable tilted in order to see the aperture and then withdraw a cotton pad through it by means of a user's fingers. When the dispenser is no longer entirely full, the cotton pads may during tilting of the dispenser fall from the bottommost position down in the dispenser toward the top end due to the force of gravity, thereby making the bottommost cotton pad inaccessible from the withdrawal aperture. Furthermore, due to the flexible nature of cotton pads, gripping the bottommost cotton pad is difficult since a user's fingers will often push the stack of cotton pads into the dispenser. Also, gripping a cotton pad at the centre portion of its flat surface and pulling it out of the dispenser will often tend to somewhat destroy the fragile structure of this surface, which subsequently is less suitable for example for applying make-up.